Now You See Me
by WonderlandInParadise
Summary: Cassia Halloway has been invisible all her life, whether mentally or physically. Knowing she is a mutant, she kept it a secret. Until that Thanksgiving dinner went wrong... Running away was her choice. And it was the best choice she ever made. But she can't keep it up. Eventually, everyone needs to be seen. Hank X OC, Alex X OC, slight Charles X Moira. After DOFP.
1. Prologue: Accidentally Me

**Hi!**

**This is my first X-Men fanfiction, so no flames please.**

**Thanks to NotMarge for all her help. Check out her stories, they're all very Twinkie-worthy (you'll get it if you read her stuff).**

**Also, thank ****_you_****, dear reader, for clicking on my fanfic. I'll try my best to satisfy your requests, if you have any.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs; the rest is Marvel's (and some of the references are NotMarge's).**

Prologue ~ Accidentally Me

_"Sometimes I wish I can stand here and fade away_

_(Sometimes)_

_Oh,_

_So nobody can see the tears running down my face_

_(Sometimes)_

_Oh, _

_Invisibility would be great"_

_-Fade Away, Mary J. Bilge, 1971_

_I was an accident._

_My parents never said it, but I knew._

_They never wanted another kid. They favor Derrick, four years older and their precious baby, the apple of their eye, their greatest gift. They tried to hide that factor._

_I knew anyway._

_How they always asked him first. How they bought him more extravagant presents. How they gave him the best of everything. How they showered him with the love I never got._

_Then there was the fact that Rick was _that kid. _You know, that awesome who can do no wrong, who excels at everything, who is _perfect.

_And me._

_A nobody. A name that drew blank stares. A part of the background, as lifeless and expressionless as the concrete walls._

_Invisible next to the legend that was my brother._

_Rick loved me though, when nobody else did. I knew that too. He tried, so very hard, to include me, to introduce me to his world, a world of awards and scholarships and "opportunities"._

_But I never fit in. How could I, in a place of do-gooders and competions won and trophies proudly mounted on shelves. It just wasn't possible._

_He was in his golden world, and I in my grey one._

_I was simply a nothing. It hurt sometimes, but I ignored it. I always told myself, "Don't look, don't hear, don't feel." I was just going through the motions, making it a day at a time._

_That day when I was twelve, when I was in the bathroom, crying once again. When Anne Smith came in and heard my sobs. How she knocked on the door and asked. How I told her my name, and hoped for a friend. Her questioning, "Who?" The fresh flood of tears. How I wished I was invisible._

_And, suddenly, I was._

_I guess it fits. I have always been see-through mentally; it was just physical now._

_I kept it a secret. I don't know why. Nobody would have notice if I just vanished. Except Derrick. And maybe, if he was working on a large-scale project, he wouldn't anyway._

_I was nothing but a breath of wind, a wisp of cloud, a bit of sky._

_A ghost, lingering. With nowhere to go and no one to care._

_I wasn't stupid. I watched the news. I knew what I was: a mutant. I knew my parents had been in the part of Japan with the most radiation when I was born. I just didn't know what to do about it._

_Then, eight years later, Derrick has his own apartment, his own job, even a wife. He had come back, just for Thanksgiving dinner. Those government agents decided to ruin my life, on that very night. They came, exposed me. I still remember._

_The horror on my mother, Pauline's, face. My father, Simon's, stony silence. And the look on Rick's face. That stung the most. Still does. _

_So I ran. Up to my room, packed my bags and willed myself invisible. They didn't know what my mutation was, and they didn't see the shadow that crept out the back door._

_They didn't see._

_They never did._

_They never will._

_And I need to find someone who can._

**Well, that's the prologue. I will introduce her, the invisible protagonist, officially next chapter. See you then!**


	2. Of Splinters, Towns and Near-Deaths

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**Thanks for all the reviews. Here are the replies: **

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**Guest: Here is the next chapter!**

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**Please note that all chapters will be told by our invisible protaganist, so no " POV's" will be put in. **

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs... And the cookie I'm munching on right now... (Mmm... What would they be like blue?) (Percy Jackson reference, anyone?)**

_If you're in the swing _

_(Money ain't everything)_

_If you're in the swing_

_Run run away_

_-Run Run Away, Slade, 1984_

First thing: splinters are the bane of my existance.

Like, my entire life, I have never experienced so freaking painful and annoying my whole life. Even when my English teacher kept forgetting my name in fourth, fifth _and_ sixth grade. Oh my God, that was torture. (Hey, Mrs Felix, I'll remember to mention that to the army if they catch me. If.)

I wince as I crash through another bramble patch and half a dozen splinters embed themselves in my skin. Crimson droplets dot the dewy grass, still wet from the morning chill that hasn't faded. Leaves crunch under the soles of my blue sneakers, and more than once I trip over rocks half-hidden in the dead roots and let out a volley of swear words. Correction: _forests_, the entire bloody package, are the bane of my existance.

When I was a kid, I thought forests were the best things ever. Derrick and I would climb the tall pines that grew in the wood near our house, and it would be a race. He would always get there first, but he would slip down and offer a dirty hand. His palm always felt so warm, so firm, with his strong fingers wrapped around my pale ones. It was as though he would never -

I shake my head. Derrick is part of my past. A past of secrets and lies and days spent in the bathroom, with tears streaming down my face. A past of fake love and favouritism and nights lying on my bed, wishing for a friend.

A past I desperately want, _need, _to forget, if I'm going to survive in this mutant-hating world. I'm no longer Kristin Haroldson, I'm... Well, I'm sure I'll think of something.

I bash my way through a few more bushes before slipping on slick mud, formed by the light drizzle early this morning. (I should know, I was trundling along on a bus at 4 a.m.)

I fall into nothing - literally. I'm suspended in the air, dropping off the face of a impromptu cliff dive. My brain and my lungs and my heart all turn to mush for a moment, so my blood runs ice and my breath chokes and I am left scrambling for a reasonable thought.

Then, of course, it all comes back, hitting me like the waves crash against the rocks. My heart pumps rapidly, flushing out the ice, bringing in red-hot panic. My breath comes in a short, frightened burst. My mind starts screaming at me to _freaking move you idiot!_

I scrabble for something to hold, but all I get are muddy hands and raw, bloody nails. It seems like I'm done for, destined to fall off a cliff like a complete fool. I say a prayer to the Lord Almighty for a safe passage to heaven and _may the angels sing upon my arrival_ and all that stuff (years of Sundays spent at church in itchy frocks and stiff leather shoes at least taught me _that_ much) before my fingers catch on something.

I fumble my grip for second like a new player on the field and my heart stops again (if it keeps this up I'll die of a heart attack sooner or later) and then I get a good hold on whatever has saved me from plummeting down to my death. It's a tree branch/root/whatever. I don't know, I never did well in science anyway. It's some brown tree thing. Still, I feel like yanking it out and marrying it, for all my lack of understanding what it is.

I look down. There are a couple of rocks hanging of the cliff face, but they are all smooth as marble, none of which I could have caught. Thank God that tree thing is here. Gingerly, I place my foot on a golden-tinted stone, testing its stability. When it holds, I find another for the other foot. Slowly, I clamber down the cliff until I get to a ledge, jutting out of the mud clods, saving me from exhaustion (jeez, rocks seem to be my hero today, huh?). I drop down onto soft grass and survey my surroundings. The only way is down, unless I want to give a go against gravity and head back to crashing bramble patches and debating the bane of my existance. Then I look up and gasp.

Nestled in the never-ending woods is a tiny town, with stone cottages and brick buildings and... People. Well, screw people. What I actually want is food.

Glancing down, my resolve wavers when I see how far I still have to go. Ugh, cliffs. So. Freaking. Hard. Then, my stomach rumbles and I am reminded that all I've eaten for three days are stale bread slices and condensed milk, and that scrambled eggs and bacon would do very well, thanks. Sighing, I get up and dust myself off. Looks like I have a long climb ahead of me.

**And... Cut!**

**See you guys next chapter! (Where I will introduce another main character *hint*)**


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